How Strategic Policy Stacking Can Lead to Solar Market Success

Since 2008, NREL has been looking at how state-level policies can be “stacked” to further solar market growth. Policy stacking refers to the sequential order in which solar legislation is put in place. The policy stacking theory holds that policies, many of which are less expensive to government, are able to support sustainable markets when aligned with best practices and state contexts. In our original data analysis on the subject, NREL examined how demographics and non-financial incentive policies — such as interconnection, net metering, and renewable portfolio standards — could explain about 70 percent of PV capacity growth. Further research showed how extreme values of non-policy factors — including personal economic context, solar resource availability, competing electricity prices, and interest in sustainability — impact solar installation rates. This year, we evolve...